The Goodness of Nothing
Flash Fiction entry for Fur'theMore convention. Only rule was less than 1,000 words, made over the course of 24 hours.
The hunter had tracked his prey to the stretches of the kingdom, where a chasm had opened up to a rocky clearing. The fox peered his armored head from his vantage point on the ledge to see the dragon below. The fair maiden was also there. She appeared to be bound by nothing but terror of the creature before her.
He had always dreamed of such adventure, to be a knight and serve the kingdom. However, the cruel fates made him born a peasant. It seemed almost like a dream when the weasel king had approached him as he did his chores.
"My daughter has been kidnapped by a foul dragon and my regiment refuses to go forth and return her to me. I heard you have the spirit of an adventurer in you. I need you to succeed where they have failed me. For all it takes for the wicked to win is for good to do nothing."
The fox drew his blade, ready to take action. The beast was turned away and the time to strike was now.
With a sudden leap the canine dropped from the ledge and landed upon the beast's back. The creature snarled as it tried to shake the hero off. A scream could be heard from the maiden.
"So the king has sent his assassin? You shall fail in your endeavor foolish creature!"
The hero held on to the back as his eyes glanced upon a vital opening within the dragon's tough scales. As he swung for it he declared. "I will return what you stole from our kingdom. I will become a noble knight!"
As the dragon felt the blade strike true he knew his time fell short. "How can this--- be?" he decried as he collapsed from the blow.
Only deep breaths could be heard as the chasm fell to silence. The hero drew his blade out of the creature as the warmth of victory flooded over him.
However, as he turned to the weasel maiden her expression was not the one he had expected. Instead of joy or relief there was instead a pale look of horror.
"What -- What have you done?" she ran past the armored fox toward where the creature laid. "What have you done!?"
The fox was baffled by this behavior. "I believe I just saved your life, princess."
"Saved my---" her irritation kept her from repeating the whole thing. She walked up to him and shoved, which caused him to stumble a bit. "You not only failed to save my life; you have doomed us all!"
When he regathered his footing the fox was aghast. "Are you insane? I slayed the beast who kidnapped you!"
"Kidnapped? I ran away! My father had made a deal with a dark beast and I had fled here to warn the only creature who could have stopped him."
A deep laugh echoed about the area. A dark form lurched over the side of the rim. Another dragon, of a deeper shade of scale.
"Oh how easy that was. Thank you bravest warrior. You have sleighed my brother, always too noble for his own good." The beast moved forward, unafraid.
"And you will join him!" the fox struck the form, but no signs of physical pain resulted.
The beast laughed. "Foolish creature, I am immortal, for only by my brother's claw could I have been killed. Your wise king has helped me dispose of him. I will be forever in his debt. I will allow him to reign over all of his lands without the need of appeasing the masses. Instead they will obey their ruler or die by my claw."
"Then why me? Why use me to slay your brother if you're so powerful?"
The creature gave a grin. "My dear mortal, my brother was always stronger than I. However I was always the craftier one, and if it's one thing I know---" the dragon swiped at the hero and knocked the blade from his paw, moving in for the final blow. "All it takes for evil to win is to know that the foolish good will always jump at the chance to do something."